April
1994

$2.8 million slated for bicycle projects within County

• The federal government Transportation Enhancement Activities (TEA) program is about to award funding for five major bicycle paths within Santa Barbara County. Recommendations made by the California Transportation Committee (CTC) staff on March 14th are expected to gain approval by the Committee in late March, according to Greg Nielsen at the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments.
• Three of the projects are part of a package of eight approved by the Association of Governments last fall and forwarded to the CTC. The CTC staff subsequently pared the eight down to five (they cut Santa Barbara City projects), but kept the three bike projects intact.
• In addition to applications from each California county, several statewide projects were also submitted, and it's here where five segments of the California Coastal Trail were recommended for CTC funding. Two of those five segments are within Santa Barbara County. The final tally is the following (amount in thousands of dollars):
• Coastal Trail, Gaviota State Beach $ 1,056
• Coastal Trail, Carpinteria State Beach 491
• Santa Maria/Guadalupe Bikeway 400
• El Capitan Ranch Bikeway 360
• Route 1 Bridge Bikeway, Lompoc 497
• Santa Barbara County Total $ 2,804
• Our outstanding success has come in part from contributions from Jean Thomson and Ralph Fertig on the initial TEA citizen assessment committee last summer. But to a larger extent, it has come from the enthusiasm and input from pro-bicycle individuals within all the agencies involved and from the bicycling public in general—like all of you out there. Congratulations: here's proof that we can make things better!

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Coalition elections—what you can do

• Vote for the best people! Elections for officers and other Board of Directors members will be held during our regular meeting on April 6, but if you can't make it, send in the absentee ballot at the right. Our Board of Directors will consist of seven individuals—the four officers and three other people.
• The absentee ballot lists the names of all individuals nominated at our March 2 meeting. If you wish, write in other candidates' names in the blank space. Mail the ballot to the address listed, or give it to somebody to bring to the meeting.
• ABSENTEE BALLOT
• Choose one person for each of the following:
• President
  Ralph Fertig
  other_______________
• Vice President
  Craig Jurkoic
  Jean Thomson
  other_______________
• Secretary
  Sandra Wintermoss
  other_______________
• Treasurer
  Gary Wissman
  other_______________
• Choose three of the following for Board of Directors:
  Robert Bernstein
  Bob Burgess
  Trisha Davis
  Art Ludwig
  Mark Mittermiller
  Benjamin Sawyer
  Jean Thomson
  other_______________
• Mail to: Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition
  32 West Anapamu Street #263
  Santa Barbara, CA 93101

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Thanks to GVCC

• Our somewhat belated, but very sincere appreciation goes to the Goleta Valley Cycling Club for their generous gift of $100 that they voted to us at their December meeting. We're all doing our best to promote bicycling within the County, and look forward to continuing to help one another.

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Coalition offers bike parking at Earth Day

• On Sunday, April 24, the annual Earth Day celebration will take place in Alameda Park in Santa Barbara.
• The Bicycle Coalition has applied for permission to offer bicycle "valet" parking to those smart people who bicycle to the event. We don't yet know whether we'll be approved, but hope to hear before our April 6 meeting.
• If accepted, we'll rope off an area, hang signs from the rope, and accept bikes at a narrow guarded entrance. The bicycles will be tagged, then propped together in pairs, and a receipt given to each bicyclist. If the Earth Day committee accepts our offer, we will need volunteers, two or three at a time, to process and guard the bicycles.
• Most important, however, is chatting with fellow bicyclists of all ages and interests. We'll be offering literature on the Coalition and upcoming bicycling events. Those who have attended Earth Day before can attest to the wonderful people there.

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More bike lockers coming to SB City

• Santa Barbara's first lockers for 10 bicycles are all occupied, but more will be ordered for installation later this year, said Jay Hillje, Transportation Management Program Coordinator for the City.
• The five dual-bike units are now installed at two public parking lots, one next to the MTD bus terminal and the other across from Nordstrom's. The free lockers were taken in less than a month, and the waiting list is growing. Funding for the new units, possibly 20 or more, will come from the City's Proposition 116 grant.
• The locker design silkscreens (approved by the City Landmarks Committee) have been saved and are available for government agencies and private firms who wish to purchase lockers for secure storage of their employees' bicycles. Contact Jay Hillje at 564-5393.

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Bill may fund projects

• A new California bill, SB 1567, may appropriate $1 million from the Petroleum Violation Escrow Account to fund bicycle transportation projects. Sponsored by Senator Lucy Killea and the California Bicycle Coalition, the bill would be administered by Caltrans and would be open to proposals from groups within the state. Stay tuned.

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New California bicycle safety groups forms

• A new statewide group is forming—the California Bicycle Safety Network. "The primary purpose of this Network is to share bicycle safety programs and resources throughout the State to better coordinate our efforts and make them as effective as possible." They are planning a workshop in Los Angeles or Sacramento in a few months. If you wish to contact them, phone:
• Martha Oldham, Project Coordinator
  California Center for Childhood
  Injury Prevention
  619-594-3691

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Bike to Work Day needs our help

• On Tuesday, May 17, people all over the County will be bicycling to work. For many, it's their usual transportation, but for others it will be a new venture. What's most exciting about the day is that—to their surprise—lots of people find out that bicycling to work is easier, safer, and a lot more fun than anything else.
• Data from San Diego show that the large majority of those who bicycled on Bike to Work Day last year had at least once before bicycled to their jobs. For 12% of the riders, however, it was their first time. And most exciting, 20% of those first time riders continued to bicycle after that.
• According to Lori Risque at our local Traffic Solutions office, they're promoting Bike to Work Day by mailing information out to all major employers in the South Coast. The Bicycle Coalition has offered to help publicize the event by getting local bicycle shops to offer coffee—and maybe breakfast carbohydrates—to passing bicyclists. Possibly the shops could offer a quick bike inspection too. What we may do is make a map to send out to prospective bike commuters showing them where to stop for coffee.
• So, all you shop owners out there, how about it? Want to attract new cyclists to your business? Any other ideas? Phone Ralph Fertig at 962-1479 or Lori Risque at 568-3293. We need people to help contact the shops on this.

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Bicycle ride postponed

• The Bicycle Ride Against Drinking Drivers, originally scheduled for May 24, has been postponed until the fall, according to coordinator Karin Roser. Apparently, job requirements are keeping Roser from dedicating the time required to properly manage the ride this spring. It had been hoped that the Ride, combined with the Bike to Work Day, would become an anchor for a bicycle week of activities.
• Does anybody have any ideas of something to replace this or augment the Bike to Work Day?

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New guardrail makes 101 bicycling safer

• After a two-year period of progress and setbacks, Caltrans has completed the new cast concrete guardrail along Highway 101 near La Conchita, just east of the Santa Barbara County line.
• According to bicyclists who regularly ride there, the relocated guardrail is a vast improvement because it gives us a five-foot space between the highway and parked cars, enough to avoid opening doors. Removing the prior dangerous rail and casting the new safer one cost about $300,000. Particularly instrumental in influencing Caltrans were Jack O'Connell and Gary Hart. If you like the improvements, say so to them or to Caltrans for doing a good job. Write to:
• Assemblyman Jack O'Connell
  228 West Carrillo Street #S
  Santa Barbara, CA 93101
• Senator Gary K. Hart
  1216 State Street
  Santa Barbara, CA 93101
• William Weldele and Osama Assaad
  Caltrans Traffic Design Branch
  120 South Spring Street
  Los Angeles, CA 90012

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Circulation Element control transferred

• The responsibility for reworking the Santa Barbara City's Circulation Element has been transferred from the Transportation Department to the Planning Department.
• For the past two years, the Circulation Element Update Task Force that has been working to forge a new document under the auspices of Transportation. The shift to Planning is seen by many as a sign of the growing influence of alternate transportation priorities in the design of our future mobility.
• There will be a Circulation Element meeting on March 30 at 12:00 noon at the City Hall, Room 15. Changes have come!

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Bob Burgess—bicyclist without a car
by Benjamin Sawyer

• If actions indeed speak louder than words, at least environmentally, then Bob Burgess is a person to command our respect. An active member of the Planning Committee of the Bicycle Coalition, Bob has by choice not owned an automobile since 1989.
• The irony is that Bob is a trained engineer (BS, UC Berkeley and MS, UCLA) who worked for the California Division of Highways—the precursor of Caltrans. Some of his work, in fact, involved design of Highway 101 bridges through Montecito in the early 1950s.
• His study of human factors at UCLA—balance, judgment and effort—led him to notice things that most engineers might miss. Evolving from this was a growing interest in the bicycle. "This combination led me to become a bikeway advocate," Bob says. From this has grown a personal alternative transportation career based on simplicity, consciousness, and creativity.
• How does Bob get around? The bicycle is a central component, with walking, buses, and trains the other modes. A basic shift in view is embodied in his words, "I think nothing of walking two miles to an event. I use the bike when I'm short of time or need to carry 10 pounds of potatoes. If you get rid of a car, you become an expert on buses and trains." And a person with significant savings. "The savings from minimal car use led directly to being able to buy a house in Santa Barbara and to my ability to have an early semi-retirement," Bob says.
• Bob's transportation and environmental values have carried over into a significant public life in Santa Barbara. He is the author of the 1975 book, Discovering Santa Barbara Without a Car. The exposure from this led to teaching Adult Education classes and to membership on the Board of the Metropolitan Transit District, plus a column on hiking and bicycling that ran in the Santa Barbara News-Press for 17 years. Speaking through his column, "I think the bicycle ranks as one of the most magnificent inventions ever."
• Commenting about the present, "The Bicycle Coalition is a kind of rebirth, a golden opportunity for activism for alternatives to automobile use."

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Local meetings discuss ISTEA funding

• Santa Barbara County is conducting two public meetings about funding from ISTEA, the huge federal transportation act of 1991. Applications are due soon from local jurisdictions for STP and CMAQ, components of ISTEA that can be used for bicycle projects.
• The South County meeting will be at on April 12 at 6:00 pm, at 123 East Anapamu Street (Planning Commission Hearing Room), Santa Barbara. The North County meeting will be on April 11, but the time and location have not yet been determined.
• For the latest information, call Elihu Gevirtz at 568-2018

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Bicycle planning seminar in LA

• Ryan Snyder, a nationally-known bicycling planner, is conducting a one-day seminar on the creation of bicycle-friendly communities. It's called "The Basics of Bicycle Planning" and will take place on Tuesday, April 5 from 9:00 to 5:00 in Los Angeles.
• Topics covered include planning routes, parking, links with transit, education, promotion, commuter programs, model cities, bicycle coordinators, rideshare programs, and funding sources.
• For further information, call Snyder at 310-824-9931, or locally, check with Ralph Fertig at 962-1479 for a registration form.

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Bikes may be banned from more trails

• A meeting sponsored by the Santa Barbara City Parks and Recreation Department on March 23 brought out bicyclists and other trail users. The subject was the possible closing of more trails to mountain bike use.
• Two major concerns are user safety and environmental damage, especially trail erosion. Nothing was resolved, but further meetings will be arranged to discuss possibilities. If you wish to add your voice, contact mountain bike advocates Steve Silva at 683-0371 or Mark Garza at 962-0992.
• By the way, is anybody in favor of closing the highways on holiday weekends when congestion is high, automobile pollution is greatest, and most accidents happen?

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Police surveillance on ride

• The March 5 Solvang Century attracted 5950 riders plus massive police surveillance and arrests. Many riders felt discriminated against. If you have any information, statistics, or ideas about how to approach this abrupt policy change, contact Ralph Fertig at 962-1479.